Mumbai: Private equity firm Warburg Pincus has invested an additional Rs. 500 crore in Kalyan Jewellers. A statement from the jeweller said that the money will be primarily used for funding its massive expansion plans in both the Indian and overseas markets.
This is the second investment by the PE firm in the jewellery chain – earlier in 2014, Warburg Pincus had invested a sum of Rs. 1,200 crore, which is one of the largest investments in this sector.
Kalyan had earlier announced plans to almost double its existing network of 106 showrooms, which includes a few in South East Asia and over 20 are in the Middle East. It had also said that it was preparing a blue print for an entry into the ecommerce space and that all the expansion plans would be funded by a combination of equity, debt and internal accruals.
CMD of Kalyan Jewellers, T S Kalyanaraman, described the investment by Warburg Pincus as a “vindication of the strong growth trajectory of the company”. He added that recent moves by the government to put limits on cash transactions and to implement a GST would enhance operational efficiencies and give a boost organised sector players like Kalyan.
MD of Warburg Pincus India Pvt Ltd Vishal Mahadevia said that the PE firm believes that there is tremendous opportunity for Kalyan Jewellers to build a strong branded design-led jewellery business. He added that the additional investment will be used to accelerate the company’s growth efforts in network expansion and pursuing acquisition opportunities.
